Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Pretty - Erkenne dein Gesicht by Scott Westerfeld

3 reviews

a_wren_that_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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applesaucecreachur's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Ugh. UGH. Ugh. This book. I love how angry it made me and hate to admit that some of the juicier parts made me physically giddy. (Literally everything that came out of
Tally's mouth to David in that breakup scene toward the end? Delicious. I wasn't even invested in either of her little relationships before that point but oh boy. Did that rope me in.
). While I appreciated the story's setting in
New Pretty Town as I've been curious to know more about it since book one
, I became bored quickly. <Spoiler> Like her relationship with David in the first book, Tally's romance with Zane felt forced for much of the book. Now, I'll be honest: I was kind of rooting for them at the end. Teamwork is one of my favorite ways to show intimacy in any form, and sprinkling in a little bit of sacrifice is just chef's kiss.

That said, I can't go without mentioning this book's problems. I'll start with a more neutral one:
The "primative" villagers, at least at this point, feel like an unnecessary addition that gum up the plot's gears. The role that they serve, at least in the timeline of this book, is to reveal to Tally both the drastic measures that the scientists and Specials will take to learn about "human nature", and that this nature is inherently violent. Groundbreaking (/s). But couldn't we have learned this by, I don't know, having Tally stumble upon confidential files or an old newspaper article or something? Did we need an entire new civilization and cast of characters thrown into the last few chapters of a book already crowded with new terms for classes of people?
The more harmful ones have to do with the endorsement of disordered eating and the demonization of self-harm. Though
Tally and Zane
do not seek weight loss for cosmetic reason, restriction and starvation are presented as just another measure of their grit. Which, considering that this is a series geared toward young people, an likely fem-identifying ones... This is problematic. Plus making
Shay's new, creepy clique
a group of people who cut themselves
to heal their brain lesions
, and even calling them the cutters, and making them
the bad guys of sorts
, is ugly. And I don't mean in the bubbly/bogus way. Then there's also the fact that skin color factors into how attractive someone is? Some uglies in the book are described as pale, and some descriptors of pretties include "tan". So if "too light" exists, so too must "too dark". Maybe this was unintentional on Westerfeld's part. Even so, we are not at all into that shit.  

Would I read it again? Absolutely not.  But boy howdy, did I enjoy every minute. All I have to say about this ridiculous and perfect book is: Get it, Tally Youngblood. Eat your pretty little face and your big ugly heart out.
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optimisms's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

It's a shame, really. During the first half, I was enjoying this book a good deal more than Book 1. As long as the characters stayed in the same place, Pretties was basically a better version of Uglies; the characters know more, the stakes are higher, and the tricks are much bigger. Once again, the strengths are in plot, not character, but the plot is quite enjoyable.
The quest to find Valentino 317
,
the destruction of the ice rink
, and
the breathless escape in the hot air balloons
were all such fun to read, and I was hopeful that this would continue. I was strongly considering giving it higher marks than Book 1.

But then everything fell to pieces, which was probably inevitable when the logic of the very world itself is held together with spit and glue. As soon as the gang
leaves New Pretty Town and heads off to find the New Smoke
, the book suffers an immediate dip in quality. Honestly, even before that, there's the bizarre and unnecessary inclusion of
Cutters
, which felt completely out of place for the story. I was a bit revolted to see self-harm portrayed as a potential "cure," even if it was frowned upon by the protagonist. Next, there's the tired and cliche
run-in with the "savages" who believe Tally is a god. As a student of International Development, I found this section deeply problematic, as it was simply riddled with thought patterns adjacent to white supremacy, white saviorism, etc. She called them "uncivilized" and "savage" and "monstrous," wanted to educate them and show them "the right way" to live, got angry that they weren't willing to change their whole entire culture overnight just for her, scoffed at their inability to immediately understand and accept scientific explanations, assumed they would rather live like her if they had the choice, etc etc etc. And all of this is written in a way that makes me concerned that Westerfeld believes much of this himself about "undeveloped" nations around the world
. And it sucks that this part left such an unpleasant taste in my mouth, because the rest of the book would barely change without it. It should've just been left out. Then there's all the completely BS "science."
Apparently, in this world, hot-air balloons, starving yourself, and falling from great heights can temporarily cure brain damage. Permanently, if you're as special as Tally. And if you literally get pseudo-cancer that completely destroys sections of your brain so you lose motor and cognition skills, no worries, because if you get stem cells in your brain you can just...relearn that
. Just like Book 1, we're hit with a predictable "twist" that
the two pills did different things and needed to be taken together to work
, which was so incredibly obvious I didn't even think it was a secret until it was revealed like it was new information. Lastly, the ending is literally just a redo of Book 1's ending.
They all escaped to the Ruins only to realize they've been tricked and caught by the Specials, the Smoke is on the run because of Tally, someone she loves is hurt (also because of Tally), and now she has to go back to the Pretty Town alone to undergo forced surgery and try to help her loved one get better before they both somehow escape to find the Smoke again
. It was so tiring, it's literally the exact same ending. And it's even worse than Book 1 because this time there's a boring love triangle. Deliver me, please.
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